Kyle Champion recently retired after 29 years of teaching as Artist Teacher of Cello at the University of Redlands. While at the Conservatory of Music there he was founding Director of the University of Redlands String Project, and coached student chamber music ensembles.

The same year he also retired from the Redlands Symphony after 36 years of playing with the ensemble, and 29 years as principal cellist, and from the Long Beach Symphony after 27 years with that ensemble. He led the orchestra program at the Webb School in Claremont, California for 14 years, stepping down in 2025. He maintains a private cello studio at his home in La Verne.

Prior to his time in California Kyle was a member of the Oklahoma Symphony, principal cellist with the Chamber Orchestra of Oklahoma City, and taught at Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma City University and his home private studio. He holds a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Southern California, where he studied cello with Ron Leonard and chamber music with Donald McInnes, and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Kyle has been heard performing on studio recordings for motion pictures and TV, in the pit for the Los Angeles Opera and in numerous chamber concerts including the Southern California cello quartet Quatracelli, for which he was a founding member. He is also a sought-after adjudicator for ASTA, MTAC and Forum Music Festivals.

A past-president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, Kyle also served as chair for the ASTALA string competition and continues to serve on the organization’s board of directors.